Beyond the Clear
by emilix
Summary: Leon brings Claire to DC for a change,when Claire receives an offer unexpectedly. Meanwhile Leon keeps getting nightmares of zombies even though he's not seen one in years. Sequel to We Need Help. Leon/Claire
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: A new story which follows "We Need Help" another Claire/Leon fic I've done prior to this. I hope you enjoy the first chapter of this new fic!_**

He heard a low moan coming from behind him. He swivelled his head to the source of the sound, it was too familiar. The song of the undead, as he'd like to call it. One by one, zombies came towards him shattering every sense of peace he had left in him. He shouldn't feel the way he does now with all his experience with zombies, but somehow he feels like how he felt the first time he had encountered them in racoon city. Scared shitless- but wasn't allowed to show it. One bite was all it took for him to become one of them, and as he stood there wondering what was his next move, 20 odd more zombies appeared.

He didn't know how the restaurant suddenly managed to be filled with the undead, but it just happened in a quick second and he had to get out of the restaurant. He dashed quickly to the main door which was guarded by two zombies. He kicked them both out of the way; cautious enough to make sure he was not anywhere near their jaws, or heads, for that matter. He ran out of the restaurant and was flung onto the once busy street of the District of Columbia. He had to think of a place to find shelter and a place to call for backup. For the epidemic that is about to happen, Leon seemed really calm.

Out of nowhere he heard a faint murmur behind him.

"_morir es vivir"_

He knew that voice too well, and was surprised that they were found here, in DC. The Palagas as he knew were long gone after his encounter with them in Spain. He wasn't prepared for them... well, he wasn't prepared for the zombies either, but the Palagas were bioweapons of a different rank altogether. They had the mental capabilities far superior to the ones the encountered in the restaurant.

Leon backed up against a light pole that had been flickering and shot the zombies closest to him through their skull.

Before he could shoot the Palaga that was behind him, a zombie jumped from the building above and affixed itself onto the pole he had been leaning on and clambered down quickly. Leon had no time to be stunned by the idea of a zombie being on his back, or the indescribable smell that was coming from it. He shrugged the zombie off as quickly as he can and pulled out his trusty handgun from his holster. He shot the zombie thrice in the head and backed away slowly.

As soon as he shot the zombie, he felt a sharp pain surging through his neck and he immediately grabbed it. He spat out a string of expletives. His hands were covered in his own blood as he traced the bite mark that had been left behind by the zombie. Whilst in agony, he had completely ignored the Palaga that had been right behind him and was totally unaware of the flail in his hands. With one swift move, the Palaga brought down the flail onto Leon's head.

Leon's eyes flung wide open in shock. He looked around him and realised he was surrounded in darkness with the exception of a tiny light source coming in from the crack in the door, which he had left slightly ajar. His eyes swept across the room again to realise that he had been having another bad dream and he was in fact, in the comforts of his own room with no one out there to kill him. His breath was hard and jagged, almost as if he had just finished a marathon in a sprint. His heart hammered in his chest. The brows above his eyes did their best to wick away the sweat that had formed during his night terror. The room wasn't particularly warm but his entire body felt like it was on fire. Fear and dark memories, in particular, did this to him.

He muttered more expletives under his breath for having the night terrors, knowing he was way too old to be having nightmares. He tried to fall back to sleep again but he knew it all too well that it was just too hot and too hard for him to fall back into a deep slumber. Laying on his bed for a good 10 minutes, he realised that the heat wasn't going anywhere and his mind was way too alert to let him go back to sleep on his bed. He took his pillow and went into his bathroom which had marble flooring and laid there for a while, arms outstretched. It seemed silly, but that was the only way he could cope.

He closed his eyes momentarily to get his thoughts cleared up. The coolness of the marble soothing his burn. The thought of taking a cold shower was inviting but he thought that might just make him feel more awake, something he didn't want to feel, not at 4 in the morning.

Sleep finally overpowered him after an hour or mindless pondering. He fell back into a dreamless sleep, waking up only to be greeted by an orange ball of light from his bathroom window and a splitting headache from all that had happened, plus the horrid sleeping arrangement. He rubbed his eyes and frowned at the magnitude of the headache. It was like a jackhammer trying to break a piece of diamond. He pulled himself up and swung open his medicine cabinet to look for his aspirins. After downing two tablets, he fished for his unopened packet of cigarettes at the back of the medicine cabinet. Slowly, he unwrapped the plastic and plucked out one stick from the entire heap, knowing he was only going to smoke one. Desperate times called for desperate measures. He found a matchbook, slightly damp, beside his toothpaste, which might be a little troublesome, but he decided that that would have to do.

Leon stumbled out his bedroom door looking like a truck had ran over him, twice.

The smell of pancakes and perfume assaulted his nose instantly, and it wasn't a bad smell to wake up to at all. "Morning." A lady spoke from the breakfast counter. Leon briefly glanced over and noticed a woman with wild red hair pulled into a sloppy pony tail flipping pancakes on the stove.

"Claire." He mumbled his acknowledgement to her greet without looking directly in her eyes and stumbled onto the balcony directly across the kitchen.

Claire was about to criticize his look before she noticed the single unlit cigarette in his hand and the matchbook. She decided that it's best if she reserved her questions and criticism for later.

Out in the balcony, Leon noticed old Mr. Boyd who was reading his newspapers. Leon never knew why Mr. Boyd found that relaxing since his balcony was overlooking another row of apartments, not your typical overlooking-a-garden sort of balcony.

"Ey, Kennedy!" Mr. Boyd called. "Morning Mr. Boyd" Leon said, striking the match for the 9th time before it actually alighted due to the dampness of it.

"You know that smoking thing? It isn't good for you, son. You shouldn't pick up something because you think it's cool like all you hipsters today." Mr Boyd lectured.

"Ooh, smoking? Leon's smoking?" a voice called out from the balcony on the left of Mr Boyd's. Bethanie is a 17 year old girl who lived with her brother and parents next to Mr. Boyd's apartment and has a crush on Leon. She's going through a phase where sometimes she could act so mature for her age, and sometimes she was just downright childish. This was one of her childish moments.

"No, Beth, I'm not, I'm just..."Before Leon could explain, Mr Boyd starts again.

"It's because of that girl that in your apartment isn't it? You're trying to be cool and you're trying to impress that little red head aren't you, young man?"

Leon lifted his head ever so slightly, he was indeed intrigued that his neighbours noticed Claire, but he didn't really have to effort to acknowledge the fact, and explain her to them.

"What red head, where?" A little too enthusiastic remark was heard from Bethanie who was still in her boxer shorts, started jumping up and down to catch a glimpse of Claire who was partly covered by Leon.

Leon glanced back to make sure Claire wasn't listening onto this. She was preoccupied with the pancakes to notice.

"No, Mr. Boyd I assure you, she's not..." Leon started again but was cut off by Mr Boyd yet again.

"See me? All old and sore? This happens to people who smoke. Do you want to die, Kennedy? Don't smoke." Mr Boyd said.

"No, sir, I..." Leon left the sentence hanging and took a drag knowing someone else was going to cut him anyway. He really didn't like the noise around him, especially when his head was spinning; however, it was either the balcony or walking outside, which to him, was just too much effort just for a cigarette, also, he had a rule where he wouldn't smoke indoors.

"Bernard! Stop scaring the poor boy! Can't you see he's all stressed?" An elderly woman's voice called from the apartment balcony above Mr. Boyd's. Miriam Boyd nee Alridge, was previously married to Boyd until they got a divorce a few years ago in which Bernard Boyd moved out of his apartment. He couldn't find a more suitable place to move into so he bought the apartment right below his old apartment (which was now occupied by his ex-wife) and stays directly below her.

"You eavesdropping on me, Miriam? What are you doing spying on me?" Mr Boyd asked looking up above at his ex wife.

"Oh, Bernard you're so self-centred. Stop thinking about yourself and look at the boy! He looks like he could use some cheering up. Not an old man nagging at him, that's for sure." Miriam huffed.

"Look who you're calling old," Bernard scoffed.

Leon closed his eyes and inhaled slowly and deeply, trying to block out their voices.

"Why making all noises?" Another head popped out from the right of Bernard's balcony. It was Pasqual, a Spanish man whom had recently moved into the apartment. He had a short fuse but when people are nice to him he is twice as nice towards the person.

"Sorry, Pasqual, I'll be heading indoors in a bit." Leon apologized nonchalantly.

"So, who is this girl, Leon? What's she like? Is she your girlfriend?" Bethanie asked, whilst combing her wet hair.

"She's real nice, Beth." A partial answer came from Leon. The hammering in his head had quietened down and so did the hammers in his heart. He felt a little calmer, as he always felt after a smoke. Smoking was never something Leon was proud of doing when he was younger. In his late 20s, he decided that it wasn't natural to depend on something so much and hence went cold turkey. He suffered for a bit but it all worked out, by his early 30s, he was able to go without smoking. However, he still had the odd pack or two for situations like these.

"Aww shucks our boy is turning red like a beetroot." Miriam gushed.

"What's this... beetroot?" Pasqual asked curiously.

"Something Miriam uses way too much in her cabbage soup." Bernard looked up from his newspaper and spoke.

Miriam pretended not to hear her ex-husband, which was quite impossible since Bernard was one of those who projected his voice.

"Are you okay, Leon?" Pasqual asked, eyes wide with concern. There was a short silence when every one of Leon's neighbours realised they had not really asked how he was until then.

Leon paused and took a long last drag at his cigarette before crushing it and picking it up again.

"I'll be fine, Pasqual, thanks. I'm heading in guys." Leon said turning his back before he finished his sentence.

"A good boy, that Lenny." Miriam's voice could be heard before he closed the sliding door.

Claire was flipping the last of the pancakes into a plate when Leon walked in.

She looked up as he threw away the bud into a trashcan and sat on the island stool in front of her.

He looked up into her eyes and she reciprocated the stare. In an instant, Claire stopped herself from asking Leon a question she already knew the answer to. He knew that she knew what was wrong with him and that was one thing he liked most about her. She always understood.

She carried on serving breakfast as usual without a skip in her step knowing making it obvious would only make situations worse.

"The syrup's on the top cupboard, here." Leon said, reaching up to the tall pantry to grab the half used bottle of maple syrup and handed it to Claire.

The bottle was sticky, a clear sign of it being used often. Claire thanked Leon whom had responded with a little nod.

"Hey, I'm just going to..." Leon began, "Yeah, go for it. I'll just make us some coffee." Claire read his mind and saved him the agony of explaining to her that he had to gather his thoughts and take a shower.

Leon slipped back into his room to take a long shower and to freshen up. In a few minutes, he emerged feeling almost completely well.

Claire didn't know whether she should go straight in to tell him about the news she had received in the morning or whether she should wait for him to tell her about the nightmare.

Leon sighed as he emerged from his room and looked at the breakfast island, as though this was the first time he was out of the room that morning.

"Claire you really didn't have to. We could have gone out to eat, I'm so sorry it took me a while." Leon said, sitting down next to her whilst she passed him a mug of coffee.

"No worries. Hope they aren't too burnt." Claire pushed the short stack she had built towards Leon.

"They're prefect." He complimented her whilst taking a bite.

"If they weren't, I'd have to sue Panmix Co. It says satisfaction guaranteed here on the instant package." Claire said, modestly.

"Nothing you'd have to worry about. I'm well satisfied. You, being here, make it a lot more satisfying." Leon added the last part very quietly, almost inaudible.

The redness in Claire's cheeks flared ever so slightly. "I have some news, Leon." She said, finally, thinking Leon's episode this morning was already buried six feet under and was to never be discussed ever again.

"What is it?" Leon asked, paying close attention.

"I got a call from the government this morning." Claire began

"Didn't pay your tax or what, Miss?" Leon smirked.

She disregarded his joke and instantly Leon knew this was serious. He mumbled an apology before she continued.

"They got a hold of my report I had done for the BSAA which Chris had asked me to do right after the warehouse incident."

"And?" Leon asked, too preoccupied to finish his pancakes.

"They read the report and thought it was... satisfying. So they pulled out additional reports on me and fished my whole bio data. They found out about my involvement in Arklay, and in Racoon City. It was puzzling to them that I've managed to survive all that despite my lack of training in any department." Claire continued.

"So what are they trying to do here? Are they going to evaluate you to see if you're really Claire Redfield, the girl with no formal training?" Leon commented.

"No, Leon. They've offered me a position to work with the government. They can assure me full protection of my well being, and they just want me to be sort of an apprentice in these few weeks first. Learn the ropes, do some report reading and perhaps in the future, help the government take down Umbrella. I hadn't said yes, or no. I haven't even told Chris because he would downright have said no. I just came to you first to ask you for your opinion." Claire said in one breath and then in turn, looked at Leon for his reaction.

"Oh, they offered you to work in the government, huh?" Leon said after a short pause. He didn't know how to react to it. On one hand, he knew this job would be very beneficial for Claire, in terms of position and pay; however, working with the government was not the safest of jobs, especially when dealing with certain operations.

"I know this is a great opportunity for you, financially and statistically but Claire, I am really worried about your safety. See, Wesker was all out to kill me that night; you might form an enemy of your own just by working in the company. It's not hard making enemies when you're bonded with this side of the law." Leon said, in a less compassionate way as he would have liked it to have been.

"... and then there's the issue of the headquarters. They want me to work here, in DC." Claire said, re-reading the letter she had printed out from her e-mail.

"Yeah, the small 1x1 m cubicle they call office in Chicago is pretty depressing. You probably wouldn't want to work there anyway." Leon commented.

"I can't really tell you what to do. I'm just warning you about your safety when you work there. The government can promise you the moon and the sky when it comes to safety, but when you're out there, actually carrying out a task, who knows what might just shoot you with a sniper? Who knows which deadly zombie might chew your leg off? After that, sure, the government pays compensation, but that's not it, you're already infected, or dead." Leon said, quickly realising he might be a little too harsh.

Leon closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he hadn't said that. "Sorry, Red I just had a really bad—"

Claire nodded her head, "I know, it was my fault, I shouldn't have brought it up now." She folded the unsigned email back into her pocket and tried to finish her breakfast.

Their conversation picked up again, but about random things they were going to do over the week not once on the topic of the Government or the nightmares.

Whilst finishing his third pancake, his phone beeped, he frowned and put it back on the table. "Don't seem too happy there, Kennedy" Claire said, being ever so nosy.

"Some work related thing which is due on Monday." Kennedy unintentionally brought back the subject of the government to the table.

Leon sighed, "Claire, I really don't want to tell you what to do with this offer, but promise me one thing."

"Name it."

"Please just take this letter, sit on it for a bit. Just give it a thorough thought and then when you're ready, send them your reply. Don't get yourself into a job you'll regret later on, and well, I guess, don't make rash decisions where you'll regret NOT getting yourself into that job." Leon said.

"I will, I promise. I plan to weigh out the conditions and I can only accept this offer after a month. I need to give my other job a month's notice IF I wanted in." Claire reminded him.

"Tell me one thing, though. Did you ever regret working for the government?" Claire asked.

There was a long silence before anyone said anything.

"I... I'm so sorry but that's something I can't tell you." Leon said after the longest of pause.

"Why ever not?" Claire frowned.

"...the circumstances... I really can't say much, Claire. If I do, they'll kill me and you and I both know that. All I can tell you now is that my job offer was a lot different from yours. So I really can't answer on that question." Leon explained.

Claire wanted to press on but she didn't really want to get him in any trouble. She'll find out soon enough and she knew it.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N Sorry it took forever. College was in the way. Poo! This chapter is rather different from the style I'm used too... but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad some of you liked the first chapter! :) _

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Claire did nothing from the morning she received the government's email. She has be laying on Leon's couch all day watching soap operas her mother used to watch, not really paying attention to the drama unfolding before her. Leon had to rush out to do some job related task and she decided to give the city of Washing DC a rest today and halt all touristy things she had planned for the day.

The printed email from the government was heavily creased in thirds, showing obvious signs of it being folded and unfolded again. She did all the research that she could on working with the government and most of the articles were positive. The only thing that worries her is the fact that those articles could be government propaganda to lure her into their mental labyrinth. Asking Leon was of no use since he wasn't encouraging but at the same time didn't want to impose anything on her.

She had been weighing the pros and cons all morning and decided that there was a lot of good working for the government. She however, didn't quite fancy the idea that she might be working with Leon a lot. She couldn't help but wonder if that might be the reason why he was reluctant for her to work there.

Questions raced through her mind, but she was really just wasting time since she wasn't doing much but pondering over the same set of questions, again and again. Just then the house phone rang. Just like a civilized guest, she answered the call, addressing herself as Leon's friend.

"Leon's out you say? Well can you pass him a message then? Tell him his Beretta is ready for collection." The man on the line said.

Leon had an affinity for guns. Much like Claire, he had a collection of various guns hidden in his cupboard. However, unlike Claire, he likes collecting unique pieces. Claire has a collection of durable, user friendly and powerful guns. Leon preferred the rarities, guns he was not given from the government. His gun that he carries on a regular basis looks like a play thing due to its' intricate design. This particular Beretta ordered must have been extraordinary.

"Sure, hey you know what? I'm free now. Why don't I swing by to pick it up for him? I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Claire chirped up.

"Yep, that works. It's already been paid for, all you need to do is sign it so that there's a little something in black and white that shows it's been picked up." The man said.

Claire took down his name and the address of the gun shop and took the next taxi to the city to pick it up for Leon. It's strange, Claire thought. When Leon was in Illinois, he too had visited a gun shop, and now she was visiting a gun shop in DC.

Upon arrival at the shop, she approached the counter looking for a Carl Larrington. "This is he." A man of late 20s said, whilst emerging from the backroom, hands red from polishing an exquisite piece, Leon's Beretta.

Claire was taken aback by the man's appearance. Over the phone, he sounded like a man in his 50s, speaking each word with clear precision, and pronunciation, like how old teachers used to talk.

"Hi, I'm Claire; I'm here to pick up Leon Kennedy's Beretta?" She said in a questioning voice.

"Right you are! I'll get right back to you in a sec, don't move." He said, flashing a charming smile, his voice mirroring one which was quintessentially Australian.

Carl disappeared once again into the backroom to fetch the gun. The gun shop was a lot smaller than the one Claire was familiar with back in Chicago. This gun shop didn't have the ostentatious display of guns in all shapes and sizes. This shop had one of a kind guns. Very Leon.

Carl came back with a medium sized black velvet box. "D'you want to see it first, ma'am?" He asked.

She nodded, and opened the box. She smiled as she looked at it. It may be a regular, mid-range gun, but it was beautiful. There was intricate detailed carving on the nose of the gun and little dragon wings extended across the body of the Beretta. There was a little cursive "L.S.K" on the hilt of the gun, marking his ownership.

"It's a beaut, isn't it?" Carl commented.

"Yeah, wow. It's really something." Claire said, picking it up and weighing it in her hands. Carl watched her skillfully handling the gun and instantly picked up that she was experienced.

"Silver plated trigger, bronze carving, personalized striate marks. It's really something special. Leon likes his guns different." Carl mentioned.

"I noticed." Claire mumbled, falling a little bit in love with the Beretta.

"Don't mind me, Miss, you're not from the District of Columbia are you, now?" Carl drawled in his Australian accent.

"… and neither are you." She said, putting the gun back down.

"Good observation. What brings you here… Illinois?" Carl made a very good guess.

Claire was genuinely surprised he was able to guess. She wasn't originally from Illinois, but that made it all the more intriguing. "You sure you're not working for the CIA? That was a pretty great guess." Claire said.

"Lucky, I'd say." He said.

"I liked the weather. Australia was getting a wee bit too sunny for my liking. Miss my mates back home, though." He said.

"Understandable." Claire gave an empathetic nod.

They stayed silent for a while, whist Claire looked about.

"See anything you like?" Carl asked, wiping the glass display case of a rifle.

"Nothing in particular, really. But you've got a great collection here." Claire muttered, amazed at some of the guns.

"Let me know if you'd like to test fire any of these guns. I'll take them out for you and bring you out the back for a test fire." Carl mentioned, pulling out a gun and polishing it.

As much as she liked guns, she didn't really feel like shooting anything today. She thanked Carl and left the gun shop promptly.

She marched home and bought some snacks on the way. Upon her arrival, she noticed Leon's work shoes by the doorway.

"Leon?" She called out. His apartment was rather different from her's. His apartment was a very modern apartment, with abstract but comfortable furniture around his apartment. He said it was fully furnished when he moved into the apartment and never bothered to change anything. He managed to keep his apartment rather neat and tidy with books in the right places and CDs stacked in a neat pile.

"In here." Leon said from his room. She put away her food and went to his room with his Beretta.

"Hey, Carl from the gun shop called and he said your Beretta was ready for pickup, so I picked it up for you. Don't worry; I examined it before I took it from the shop. No scratches as far as I can tell." She said.

He must have gone for a meeting because he was in a white collared shirt and a straight black pant. Claire always thought he looked exceptionally well in office clothes, and not his uniform. He had his tie loosened and his sleeves rolled to his elbows, his blonde mop was estranged.

"Oh, wow. You really didn't have to collect it; I would have done it some other time. Really, but thank you anyway." He said, taking the box and opening it. He checked the hilt and traced his finger on the carving.

"I saw this one morning and I knew it had to be mine." He said, speaking like a true gun affinado.

"Yeah I was just telling Carl that I was falling in love with it. It's really unique, good choice Kennedy." She said.

He thanked her and put the gun aside. He beckoned her to sit on the bed.

"Did you think about the offer?" He asked bluntly.

"I did." She said, playing with a frayed tread of his pillow.

"Did you come to a decision?" He asked.

"Can you answer this question truthfully?" Claire asked, pushing her hair back nervously.

"When have I not answered your truthfully?" Leon asked.

Claire could think of many instances but she wasn't in the mood to bring it up.

"Will my presence in the Government affect your work in anyway?" She asked.

Leon knew immediately she was going to rope in hints of conflict of interest in this conversation.

"We won't be working in the same department, it's alright. If you choose to work with the government they'll want you to assist them with the bioterrorism area. Even though I'm familiar with bioterrorism, I don't work under that branch of research and development. So my answer is no. It will not affect either of us as we're not working under the same branch." Leon said clearly.

Claire nodded and tried to find the words to speak.

"Do you think you'll be okay with me working with the government, I just need you to tell me, if I handed in my acceptance, will you shake your head in disgrace and tell me I've made the worst mistake of my life?" She asked. Clearly, his opinion matters a lot to her. It's almost like she depended on it.

"You know how I feel about this." Leon grunted, looking away from her.

"Look, put it this way. I think working with the government gives you a fantastic opportunity to explore, and learn. I think you'll do really well with the government and I would love to have you around the work place all the time, but as much as I'd love to see you every day, I'd also love it if your job doesn't involve so many risks. You saw what happened in Illinois. That could have happened to you." Leon said.

"But Leon, it did happen to you, and what happened when it happened to you? I was with you. I can take care of myself, Leon. I can do this." Claire said.

"Every job has risks. Even working with Terra Safe has risks. Sitting here, on your bed, heck the roof might cave in and kill us both but we never thought about it." Claire continued.

"The chances of the roof caving in; which, would only happen if something big had landed on this exact block of apartments, is a lot smaller than the chances of being stalked, and killed due to vengeance." Leon said.

"I can do this, Leon. I can take care of myself." Claire said, exasperatingly. All he had to say was okay, and yet he couldn't. Claire herself can't believe the words streaming out of her mouth. Why does she need his approval so desperately? All her life she's been making her own decisions and yet she can't make this one on her own.

"I wish this job offer didn't mean so much to you." Leon said, packing up the gun into the box again and slipping it into a drawer.

"It doesn't." She muttered.

"…so don't accept it, Claire."

"So this is it? You hate it that I might be working with the government because my safety's in jeopardy." Claire said, stressed, nearly in tears. Why was she so emotional over this?

"Thank God you see it that was as well. Yes, I fear for your safety. I care about you, Claire and the last thing I'd want to see is you getting hurt." Leon said, repeating a very cliché line.

"Leonardo Di Caprio, Tom Hanks, George Clooney and Pierce Brosnan all said those words, or a variation of it in one movie or another." Claire commented quietly.

"Are we still talking about the job here or is there something else bothering you, Claire, because I can't figure it out." Leon said, getting impatient, slowly figuring out that she might be subconsciously testing their relationship with this job offer front. Leon knew Claire didn't know why she was so upset herself, because she would have told him straight up why she was upset. She wasn't a coy person in any way.

"You know what? This is crazy." Claire said, picking up the letter and marched out of his room. She could tears welling up inside of her, something she hasn't felt in a long while.

She took her coat and left the apartment in one long stride.

"Claire!" Leon called out just before she closed the door behind her, thinking she probably hates him now. Claire knows that the only person she hates now is herself.


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N: I am so sorry for the extremely long wait. I had to do really well for my finals because that would determine my acceptance into Law School :P anyway thank you so much for subsribing even though it clearly shows that I haven't updated in forever. Trust me, I'm working on the fourth chapter now since my finals are over. thank you thank you thank you; and enjoy._**

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Claire took a walk down town. She didn't feel particularly spendthrift, she just wanted to think things over. She knew she had to make a decision by herself now. Leon clearly wasn't agreeable to the idea of her working with the Government, so her only question is, what does she really want. And b) what the hell just happened back there?

Her mind folded over what had just happened and how it happened. Why was Leon's approval so crucial to her? She has never depended on anyone to make decisions for her. The longer the thought about it, the longer she realized that she too, she was just as scared as Leon is about joining the Government.

Being scared was very unlike Claire, so she wasn't too sure what it was anymore. Deep down she knew her relationship with Leon might play a role on her little outburst. She liked Leon a lot more than she initially thought she did. And now that Leon was discouraging her from working with the Government, she can't help to think whether it's because he just generally didn't want her with him at all times.

She didn't like making rash decisions but what came by her next was totally not thought through. She took out the letter, ran to the post office down the road and sent in the letter, stating her acceptance to the job.

The moment she slipped the mail in, she knew she did something wrong. She didn't think about where she would live, she didn't think about how she was going to quit from her current job, she didn't think about how she would move her life down here, she certainly didn't think about Chicago at all.

She stared at the red postbox for the longest of time before she realized that it was really too late for her to take it back out now. She could only hope that they do not accept her application, which could have been absurd because she was offered the job, not like she applied for it.

What was she going to tell Leon? Should she tell him at all? Does he deserve the right to know? And why not?

At that moment, Claire felt her world slowly unraveling before her. What if Leon was right and she dies on her first day on the job? She didn't really feel like going back to Leon's after what she had done. She didn't know how to face him. She felt like she had betrayed him.

She wanted to go back to Chicago.

She wondered around the town until the sun was almost gone from the sky. At about 8, she trudged back into the apartment, hoping Leon wouldn't be in the living room because she really didn't want to talk.

"Claire?" Leon's voice rang out the moment she open the apartment door. Luck was not on her side, evidently.

Leon approached her, face creased. "If you were any colder, I'd have mistaken you for a human popsicle." He said, as his hand accidentally brushed hers. He fetched a thick afghan from the back of the couch and gave it to her. She quietly accepted it.

"I was worried about you, where were you?" Leon asked, leaning against the shoe rack nearby.

"I was just thinking. I really don't want to talk right now, can I just be alone?" Claire said, taking off her shoes and slipping into her indoor slippers. Leon seemed like it was going to let it pass, but he knew there's no way he's going to take anymore of this.

"No. No, you may not. You were out for four hours, I think that's plenty of time to be alone, and now we need to talk." Leon said, kicking himself off the shoe rack, standing straight again.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment. "It's us, okay?" Claire said, throwing him a cold look.

Leon knew it. He knew it was about them but he didn't want to say it in case it ruined the moment or whatever they had. He was too much of a coward to say it and now she has, making him feel even more of an inept fool. He knew how he felt for her, but he didn't know how to transcend that feeling into a physical relationship.

"What… what about us?" Leon asked a question he partly knows the answer to but partly was curious of what she thought as well.

"What are we, Leon?" She beckoned, she just wanted an answer.

"We're whatever you want us to be." He said, raising his voice, as he always did when he was caught in a situation he was not in control of. He took a moment, waiting for her blank face to show any expression. When she didn't seem like she was going to react to it, he sighed, "Look, this isn't the way…"

"You asked me what was bothering me. I've said it, and now it's just hanging out there in the air. I can't take back what I said and I very well know that was what you're thinking as well, but never had the guts to question." Claire accused him and stormed off.

"I'm leaving, Leon. I found a motel down town earlier; I'm going to stay there for a week before I fly back." She omitted the fact that she had actually put in her application to work here.

"No, no, no please stay, don't leave…" Leon said. He hates the fact that he was the cause of all this. If he hadn't stopped her from applying for the job, they would have been merrily drinking a shot of tequila by the bar by now.

"I want to." She said.

Within an hour, she was out of his door and in the lobby of the motel, feeling utterly disappointed with herself and how she had conducted the whole thing. She thought she was being overly dramatic and that wasn't necessary but what has been done is done. How was she going to face him at work every day if she got accepted for the job?

Pathetic, she thought to herself.

She checked into room 210, a tiny room with the necessities, enough for her for a week. The only reason why she didn't fly back immediately was because her air ticket was already paid for and b) why should Leon ruin her vacation. Washington D.C was still D.C, with or without the presence of Leon.

She opted to pay after the stay, in case she decided DC wasn't her thing.

Claire flung herself on the bed after a shower that only had lukewarm water; hardly enough to get rid of her negative feelings.

She decided that she had to stop caring for Leon. The more reeled in she is, the worse it is, as she realized. Saying it was easy. The act of not caring was harder than it sounds.

She wished she hadn't met him at all in the coffee shop in Chicago.

The closer she got to Leon, the closer she is to losing him; because everyone close to her eventually dies. Her mental set can't change and that's the way she will always see it. Leon, not being straight with her was another thing that bothered her. "We're whatever you want us to be." He said. What could that possibly mean? She felt embarrassed for bringing the topic up and putting him on the spot.

The bed in the motel was not soft but it was soft enough for her to fall into a long, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Leon couldn't sleep all night. He worried about her and what he could have possibly had done to aggravate her. He was worried about where she had went, he felt guilty for bringing her to DC and then subsequently allowing her to stay in a motel… This was not what he had imagined when he promised her fun filled weeks in DC.

He knew if he wanted to find her he could do it with just a phone call- he works for the government afterall. However, he decided to leave her alone. She needs her time to think and so does he.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Yeah the delay was inevitable. Law school is doing my head in. I am truly and utterly sorry! I really hope you like this chapter though! Thank you again so much for the subs and reviews, it means so much to me and it just feels great waking up to that, so thank you!**_

It was Thursday, paperwork day. It felt like any other day for Leon, he has been stuck with a lot of paperwork lately, due to his "misconduct" a couple of weeks ago. He had hardly any "field" time and he was getting sick of it slowly but surely. He had no disrespect for the people working in the office but he just felt like he was over the phase of paperwork. He had to do all this almost ten years ago. Sure he had his share of compulsory reports and field documentation but filing paperwork for errors on the system and petty cash usage around the office is just ridiculous.

Leon was conscious that his attitude has been affected by the change and he knew that it might have drove Claire away.

His thoughts were abruptly stirred when he got a text from the head of the Human Resources department, a department he hardly had contact with.

"Miss Claire Redfield had just sent in her application to work for the government. I've just received it and am processing it myself now. Just thought you might want to know." – Larry Keane.

He didn't know what to feel. He doesn't own Claire, she is entitled to do what she wants to, even if that means putting her life in danger. He didn't understand why he was so disappointed with her decision. Why couldn't he just leave her alone and let her do as she wishes?

So much for a Claire-less day. Leon grudgingly got out of bed and headed to work. He didn't understand why he would be given the head's up, seeing how they would be working in different departments anyway. He scooped the pile of petty paperwork into his suitcase and headed off to the city.

* * *

In the city, Claire forked her eggs down. There was an all day breakfast diner below the motel where they served eggs benedicts. They were not Claire's favorite, but it kept her stomach from growling and that was enough.

Whilst chewing and finishing some paperwork she had brought from Chicago in the dimly lit place, she found a lose piece of paper with Sherry's current address on it. Leon had written it down for her the day of her visit to Sherry's place just in case Claire wanted to see her when she was free and he was busy.

She guessed today was as good as any day to pay her a visit. She's been here nearly a week and had only seen Sherry once. The first day they had arrived in Washington, Leon had brought Claire to see Sherry. She was so much older than she had first seen her. Sherry was a splitting image of her blonde haired mother, who had died in the Spencer estate. Claire knew instantly that she had the brains of her parents. Her conversations with her mirrored ones she would have with older more mature teenagers. Sherry vaguely remembers Claire and Claire did not want to prod on her memory too much as that night was a very unpleasant night for Sherry; something she probably would want to forget.

Leon could remember Claire's face upon meeting Sherry after all those years. It was a mixture of happiness, pride and sadness all at the same time. When she was questioned about her expressions, Claire said that she was glad Sherry had turned out to be such a fine young lady but at the same time, it was disappointing that she did not get the parental love that all children should rightfully have. Leon reminded Claire there was nothing she could do about it and that she should lighten up, not everyone gets a perfect childhood.

Leon also thought that maybe Claire's affection for Sherry could be because she could relate to Sherry. Except, Claire had a brother to lean on when her parents had died; Sherry hadn't.

Claire picked up the phone to call Sherry, hoping her foster mother would let her visit.

An hour later, Claire found herself in the backseat of a yellow cab, a box of chocolate on her lap, about to visit Sherry. She had spoken to Elise, Sherry's foster mother and she had allowed her to come by.

She brought her feet to the front door and knocked thrice, after not locating a door bell.

A lady in her mid 30s, with a messy mop of dark ringlets piled on her head answered the door with a rushed hello.

"Oh, Claire you're quick! Come on in." Elise said. Elise was a woman who seems to always have too much on her plate at one time. Even though she seems overworked, there was a tiny glint in her eyes that told you that she loves her job as a foster mother to three wonderful children. She used to work in the Government a while back. A month shy from her sixth year with the government, she was thrown into a near death situation. From then, she decided that life was too precious to be throwing it out the door as she was. She took a month long break from the government before deciding finally; to quit her job for good.

She settled down with her husband and tried for kids. After finding out she had fertility issues she decided to be a foster mother, wanting to care and love for others who needs it in return. This turned out well for her. Being an ex-government agent, they appointed her to be the foster mother for any children involved in a case with the government.

"Sherry's just in her room. Tony and Arielle are out with Mike. He's taken them out for a movie." Elise said, referring to her husband and her other foster children whilst letting her in.

"Why didn't Sherry join the other children?" Claire asked, closing the door behind her.

"Sherry said she wanted to stay home, didn't feel like it. I did ask her if she was too busy to see you, she said she's missed you and is glad you're back!" Elise mentioned, walking through the messy house.

Elise knocked on Sherry's door. Before the second knock, Sherry swung the door wide open with a great grin.

"When there are non- family visitors here in the home, I'd usually have to supervise them, but I know she'll be alright with you, and that laundry hamper isn't going to fold itself, so if it's okay with you, I'll leave you to it and please let me know if you need anything." Elise said. Claire thanked her as she walked back to the laundry room.

Sherry gave Claire a hug and told her she was glad she was back.

"So what have you been up to, little business woman?" Claire asked, after picking a spot on the edge of her bed.

"Oh, it's nothing particularly important. I just felt like drawing opposed to watching a cartoon with the babies." Tony and Arielle were not babies but the age gap between Sherry and them is so huge that she tends to forget how old they really are. Sherry showed her a drawing she was working on. She wasn't Da Vinci but her sketch of a pair of ballet shoes seemed like something a mother would hang on their fridge.

"How's this working out for you, though? Living with Elise and the younger children?" Claire asked, genuinely concerned for her welfare. Growing up, Claire knew there were times where she wished Chris would just disappear from the face of the earth and there were times where she wished there had been three more Chris's around to talk to. It wasn't easy for Claire and Claire knew it wouldn't be easy for Sherry as well.

"It's fantastic." Sherry said, with a glint in her eyes which wanted to believe the words that escaped her mouth.

Claire didn't press on it. "How's your trip here so far?" Sherry asked, flinging a piece of chocolate into her mouth from the box Claire had given her earlier and abandoning the sketch she was working on entirely.

"It's been good. I went to the World War I and World War II memorials a few days ago and I thought they were fantastic. There was this old man sitting on the steps just before I had entered the World War II memorial and he was just sobbing, this guy. I asked him if he needed help. He told me his best mate had died in World War II at the age of 17 and that day marks his death anniversary. It is insane how relatable things are then to war on bioterrorism now." Claire said, and ended abruptly with a bit of alarm after realizing her mistake. She thought she had been carrying a conversation with Leon. She would never bring up the topic of bioterrorism in front of Sherry if she could.

She had not told Leon about this incident because that night he had come home late and she was fast asleep before she could tell him of her adventures.

Claire had to hope Sherry didn't ask anything further on bioterrorism because of the sensitivity of the topic around the young girl.

Thankfully, Sherry asked about what the man had to say instead of, "How relatable is it, and in what ways was that war similar to raccoon?" She could almost hear Leon saying that as a reply when she had mentioned bioterrorism to Sherry initially.

Claire spoke a bit more with Sherry regarding her adventures in Washington DC so far and in return, Sherry told her about her misadventures in school.

"I'm surprised you didn't come with Leon today." Sherry said looking at her watch and going through her fourth chocolate from the box. Claire stole a piece to stall her answer a little more.

"He's busy." She gave a partial lie. She didn't want to tell Sherry things weren't good between them but she didn't want to lie to her. Telling her Leon was busy could be true. He could be busy now.

Sherry shrugged, noticing something was up but didn't want to voice it.

Just as Sherry shrugged, a male voice was heard from the front door. "Hello Ellie, nice seeing you again."

Claire's blood froze in her stream. She's hallucinating. It couldn't be him, it has to be Mike. That's just too coincidental.

"Hello Leon, come in, I'm just finishing the laundry but I'll be in with you in just a second." Elise said.

"I thought you said he was busy." Sherry said, curiously.

"I…" Claire didn't finish her sentence.

Leon knocked on the door that had already been open. "Hi Sherry! Hi Claire?" He said, not even bothering to hide his confusion. Claire gave him a smile, but he could still see the accusation in her eyes, accusing him of being a coward for not talking about the pink elephant in the room yesterday.

"Claire said you were busy I thought you weren't going to make it for your usual Thursday visits this week!" Sherry said, whilst giving him a hug.

"Sorry sweets, you've got to bear with my presence today as you would have to every other Thursday. Paperwork has to be done and I need to check that box that says, "Princess Sherry is safe in her castle."" Leon said, sharing a laugh with Sherry who simply adores him.

"Hey Claire, how was your day?" Leon asked, making sure Sherry doesn't suspect any foul emotions between them.

"My day was alright, thanks." Claire said, just before Elise came into the room.

"Sorry for the wait." Elise said. Claire shot Leon a look.

"Every non- family visit Sherry has with someone else has to be supervised by the foster mother. If Elise hadn't slacked off earlier, your visit would have been supervised." Leon joked. Elise smirked in response.

Elise stood by the door whilst Leon asked Sherry a few questions. With Leon's visit, Elise couldn't give him a leeway because his visits are classified as "official governmental visits" and rules have to be quite adhered to when it comes to governmental matters.

Claire sighed and decided to leave. She didn't like the fact that everywhere she turns, she sees Leon, every space she is at Leon just takes over.

After Leon had finished one of his questions, Claire said, "It's getting late, I best be off. I'll see you soon, Sherry you take good care of yourself. Don't let anyone boss you around and don't do anything stupid. I'll be back before I leave DC, I promise."

Sherry giggled, got up and said her goodbyes with a hug.

"You don't have to take the cab, I'll be done soon." Leon said monotonously, without looking at her. He felt like her message to Sherry was a stab right at him.

It is to Elise's understanding that they were both living together at the moment, and they didn't want to cause a stir by mentioning their separation.

"I'm alright, thanks." She said, before saying goodbye to Elise and leaving the room.

"Do you need me to call you a cab? Should I walk you out?" Elise asked.

"Oh no, I'm fine, please continue your 'invigilating'. I'll just walk down the street and find a cab once I'm on the main road." Claire said.

Once she was out, she realized that she had a lot of time on her hands and all she really wanted to do was to curl up in a ball and drink hot chocolate at home back in Chicago. Coming to DC was a wrong decision to make; she's made things worse by accepting the job.

She decided to direct the cab to the city and took a walk back to the motel to decide what she should do next.

What she had told herself earlier was a lie. There was absolutely nothing else for her to do in DC. She could go back and stay there until there was an update on her job. She still hadn't told her old boss about her new job offer and she still hasn't done anything to the apartment she has currently in Chicago. Acting on impulse wasn't something Claire had done very often but accepting that job was definitely done on impulse.


	5. Chapter 5

"Not again." Leon thought. He knew he was dreaming but in his dream he was once again trapped in the realms of death and zombies. Their 'growls' were unrealistically loud, and they were unrealistically big. Much bigger than the real ones. That much Leon knew.

He finally woke up after dying in his dream, yet again. This time he didn't feel as bad as he did the last time he had a dream about zombies. It did not make him want to reach for a cigarette at the back of his medicine cabinet.

As he got up, his phone beeped. He read the message and closed his eyes temporarily. He sighed, closed the message without replying it and got ready for his day of work ahead. He will have to deal with the message later.

He had to go to the White House today. "Suit up." Leon thought to himself whilst putting on one of his recently dry-cleaned shirt, jacket and pants. As a person, Leon couldn't care less if he was wearing a sack to work but his job clearly states that wearing raffia-woven bags isn't going to cut it.

There will be a big function at the white house the day after and he has to be there today to make sure security is water tight and nothing gets past things. Again, Leon was honored to be the head of security for the president in this situation but this would be the last thing that he wants to do in his line of job. To be completely honest, Leon's scope of job encompasses a huge spectrum, a spectrum he wasn't entirely sure the width of. All he knows for now is that he has to get himself to the White House in an hour and he has to get ready as soon as possible.

The drove to the White House, and on his way there his mind started to wonder off to Claire yet again. He did a pretty good job of not thinking about her the night before. In fact, he only started thinking of her after receiving that message from work. After Claire had left Elise's home, Leon realized that Sherry was unaware of the break of their very brief co-habilitation. He wanted so much to ask Sherry what Claire was doing there and whether she had known that he was coming or if it was purely coincidental. That was a very narcissistic thought but it did occur to him once or twice.

He pulled up onto the Staff area in the White House with ten minutes to spare. Without thinking he pulled out his phone and rang Claire. He assumed that she would talk to him.

"Hi this is Claire Redfield. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can. Thanks."

He cussed, hung up, compartmentalized his emotions and got out of the car.

Leon walked in with his briefcase and went straight into one of the foyers where the President was reading in.

"Hi. Morning," Leon could have adapted a more formal and respectful tone but to him, if he could greet others that way, he could greet the president the same way too.

"Good morning, Kennedy. How was your day?" President asked, not too concerned about Leon's lack of formality.

"It just started." He said, taking a seat next to him.

"What have you got for me in that briefcase of yours?" The president asked.

"Just some plans to show you regarding tomorrow's security plan." Leon said, opening the briefcase to reveal a meticulously drawn blue print of one of the bigger ball rooms in the white house and pencil marks of where people should be stationed at.

After a quick brief with the president and with the other security members, Leon was called aside by his work partner.

"Hey, did you get a text this morning?" Allan asked.

"Which girl?" Leon smirked.

"Please; both you and I know the only lady that would text you in that hour would be your mother." Allan rolled his eyes.

"My mom, and yours." Leon retorted. He always felt like he was back in high school whenever he's with his partner.

Allan shook his head, laughing. "No I mean, Lene, did you get a message from Lene?"

Leon's smile vanished as he got back into the work mode and said yes.

Allan walked out and Leon walked back to his car.

Leon tried dialing Claire's number again. He was utterly miserable. How did he let this happen to himself?

"Hi." Claire answered.

"Claire, hi." He said. He wasn't prepared for her to answer the phone but she did.

"What is it, Leon?" She asked in a surprisingly non- confrontational way.

"Could I see you somewhere quiet in five minutes?" He asked, letting her decide where. He didn't want to impose coming to her motel on her.

Claire sighed. "Yeah, sure. Just come over to my motel next to Dave's bagels in the city." She reluctantly agreed after a slight pause.

"What is this about?" She asked.

"There's a few very important things that I think you should know." He said.

"Kennedy, I'm leaving Washington tonight." Claire said. "There's nothing for me here anymore. This is your city, not mine."

Those words hit Leon hard. He was responsible of making sure she was entertained in this foreign city and look what's happened now.

"We'll discuss this later; I'll be there in five minutes." He said, trying not to dwindle on this any further on the phone.

Leon hung up, and went to city.

'Possible bioweaponry activity in South Korea. Will keep you updated. Be prepared to pack'

Was on Leon's mobile screen when he showed it to Claire.

Claire felt an extreme sadness overcome her. It wasn't anger anymore. She's done being angry at Umbrella. This time, she was sad for Leon. She could see it in his eyes, the dread of being in the whole nightmare again.

"I'm so sorry, Leon." Claire said quietly.

Leon needed someone to relate to. You can't share information like this to anyone at work; they didn't understand what it was like to fight for your life every second you were there.

To Claire, it was just inhumane to put Leon back into that situation.

Leon didn't say anything, but he broke their interlocking gaze. The more he looked at her, the worse he felt.

"I'm not here to throw myself a pity party if that's what you had in mind… I just thought that maybe you should know." Leon justified his visit.

"No, that didn't even cross my mind. It's alright." She said, pulling her legs to a folded position near the edge of her bed. He was seated on the chair across her.

"I accepted the job." Claire said, suddenly.

Leon looked out the window briefly. "Yeah…" He looked harder out the window as though he was looking for someone across the street. "I know; congratulations." He looked back at Claire with a slight distaste in his feature. Claire picked it up immediately.

"I should've listened to you, I'm sorry. I really do think I made a rash decision and I feel really awful-"

"Don't be. I'm happy for you. Congratulations." Leon said, stoically.

"You don't have to be okay with it." Claire mentioned.

"Don't be silly." Leon said.

Claire decided to drop it seeing how Leon doesn't seem capable of expressing any emotions after the text. It's as though he has an emotion quota where he could only express much before he runs out for the day and will remain emotionless for the rest of the day.

"Just- don't leave today." Leon added. Claire thought that it must have taken Leon a lot to ask her of this.

"I don't have much to do here Leon. Honestly I don't even have places to visit; I would much rather be at work finishing this than to be out here and doing nothing. Plus- the rates here are double past today due to the music fest happening tomorrow evening." Claire reinstated.

"Come back to my place, at least work out the remaining week with me. Come into the office tomorrow Larry from head office would like to speak to you tomorrow. You didn't hear it from me, though."

"He wants me in tomorrow? How does he know that I'm here now?" She asked.

"Your letter stamp indicated that you were in DC, he assumed you would be here for a week. Otherwise he would have rescheduled to a date which was more suitable for you like, next week or something." He said. "In any case, you'll get a formal email later today regarding the interview, I reckon."

She sighed. "I don't want to impose, Leon. I'll stay the week but I don't need to stay at your place." She said.

"Being formal with me, Red?" He asked; tone emotionless.

"No, I just don't think it's fair for you to have someone over at your place considering how much work I do, it's hardly a vacation at all for me, unlike when you were in Chicago." She mentioned.

"At least do your work in the comforts of a home, not a B&B that is about to be twice the price in a few hours." Leon said.

"I don't know…" Claire stalled. She didn't want to live with Leon if she wasn't sure where he is going with this.

"Besides... I could really use some company now." He said with what little emotion he had in him breaking through his voice. The text message did not sit well with him, for sure.

She gave him a tight indecisive smile. She couldn't really turn him down now that he's put it on the table. She was in DC and she couldn't even be there for a friend. What sort of friend would that make her?

Leon looked at her tight smile and smiled to himself. That's what he absolutely adored Claire. She wasn't formally trained like Jill or anyone else to be a cop or a field agent. Sure she could put up with one hell of a fight but she is still very much a normal being with emotions. She was never trained to hide them, never trained to switch emotions off. She was expressive. She wasn't robotic. She was human.

Just before she could say anything Leon's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and hopped out of his seat. "Give me a sec. Think about it whilst you're at it." He whispered and answered the call. 

"Hey, June. Hope you've been well…" His voice drifted into the balcony.

When he got back, Claire was on her toes, picking up her coffee mug.

"Sorry, that was a friend." He said.

Claire paused. Friend. She shook her head nonchalantly. "Yeah, I'll move back in. On two conditions."

"Anything." Leon said with a hint of relief. There was virtually nothing she could hold against him.

"First- you have let me know about the South Korea outbreak as soon as you get news about it. And second- help me pack?" She asked.

"Too easy. I've got to pop into the office to sign some document, but I'll be back in 5 minutes to help you get sorted. Don't make me come back here to find that you've left to Chicago without saying goodbye." Leon warned.

"Should I say goodbye now then?" Claire joked.

"It's funny how you think you're funny."

"Hey, Leon?" Claire said, before Leon left the room.

"Yeah?" He asked, brushing his dirty blonde hair to the side.

"Hang in there, okay? We always manage to pull through, yeah?" She said.

He paused as if he were to say something. The he stopped, sighed and said, "Yeah. Thanks. I'll see you in 5 minutes." He said. "Don't… bring up South Korea when you're in the office, okay?" he reminded her. She nodded and he left.


	6. Chapter 6

_a/n: It's been way too long, and I really can't come up with any excuse that will cover the fact that I've left this alone for so long. I'm writing the next chapter now. I swear. Thank you so much for sticking around. You rock._

* * *

Claire walked into the building, alone. Leon said he wasn't sure if he was allowed to escort her and in any case, he was expected to be in the office anyway. She shouldn't be nervous about anything considering she will only get the job once she's passed a series of tests. Those tests are compulsory preliminary tests that everyone has to go through when they get recruited into the agency. 

She pressed the lift button to get to the 5th floor, the floor where the HR offices were located. Once she was there, she introduced herself to the receptionist and waited impatiently at the waiting lounge. Apart from the fact that she was not exactly rehearsed for what was coming next due to the secrecy of the entire meeting, she was feeling extremely uncomfortable in the a-line skirt she had to don for the meeting, on Leon's suggestion. She wasn't too sure though if that suggestion was personal.

"Welcome, Claire Redfield. I am Larry, head of the HR department, Hope you have been well!" A thin mid-40s man greeted her upon seeing her.

"I have been thank you very much, you too." She replied courteously. She forgot how nice she could be when she needed to be. It has been years since she actually had to face a recruitment team again.

"Just come in, we'll have a quick chat then we can run some tests, if that's alright with you." he opened the door to his office.

His office was very cold. Not in the sense of the temperature but rather, in terms of the décor. Very much how Claire had imagined an office in the government agency would have been like. Leather and metallic.

"You probably know why Lene, our director has head hunted you personally. We read your reports, we read what you were capable of and she was very impressed." he said shuffling some papers on his table.

"Thanks." Claire could not think of any other response.

"You are probably curious as to what exactly your job entails. You will be a part of the bio weaponry research facility, as crazy as the name sounds, you do not go researching for ways to invent new bio weapons. Instead, you do the exact opposite. With samples extracted from umbrella, we need your skills to develop antidotes and cures to those said viruses. Much like your job now, except in a higher level altogether. At this phase, it might be too much to take in, so you will be following the rest of the team to familiarize yourself. Soon after, we will have a team under you where you will work full time into medical research. With this responsibility, you need to remember that you are part of the bioweaponry research team. You can be called on field to defend your country but that will only be on a very, very rare occasion. We noticed that you've had some informal training from your brother years back and that would also come in handy in these very rare occasions, but bear in mind, will put you on training, if time is not an issue, if you had to be called onto fieldwork."

"Also, we have a few rules and guidelines you have to adhere to as you know from the letter we've sent you but to clarify- this job is not like your usual TV-spy-noir- job. If you tell someone you're working for the government, no head of the government is going to go out there and shoot your fiancé in the bathtub. In fact, no one is going to kill anyone. However, this is the tricky part- Your level of involvement in the government should never be disclosed to anyone. You've got to be quite tight lipped about the details of what your job entails and where you are in your job. We don't think it's draconian to do so, it's only for your safety and for the safety of every other employee in this facility, I'm sure you understand."

Clair nodded. "Speaking of level of involvement, how branched out is this company?"

"Well, there is a very extensive 'family tree' if you'd like to call it, in this job. Even current employees are still very confused about the system here and which branch goes under which. I won't bore you with the details like finance and management department, but rather on the security and defence department. There are essentially four branches under the security and defence department. One- the bio weaponry research department; which is where you are in, two- the personal security department- those dealing with the safety of individuals like the president or his family. Three- the tactics, a team of people working together to figure out how to dismantle bombs, pick locks, crack codes and do all the puzzle work we might be facing. The last sector is the combat fighting team where people are trained to basically fight, but usually when they are on cover missions, rather than personal security though sometimes we tend to borrow and swap things around depending on the circumstances. As I have pointed out, there would be a highly unlikely chance that you would be needed on field due to our extensive combat team but who knows." Larry said, pausing for a drink.

"Who exactly would I be answerable to?" Claire asked.

"Well, you will be directly answerable to Dr. Lee; whom you will meet in the room later on. Once you've learnt the ropes around, the bio weaponry team will be divided into two- yours and Dr. Lee's, both working on separate tasks, of course. Dr. Lee is now answerable to the head of security and defence which is Mr. Kennedy and once you take over a team, you will be directly answerable to Mr. Kennedy as long, essentially being on the same level as Dr. Lee." Larry said without pausing or suspicion.

Claire froze in her seat. Did he just say that Leon would be her boss? She thought Leon had promised her he would not be in the same branch as her.

Larry knew that she fought with Leon back in Raccoon city, but he didn't make it a big deal. "Are there any questions?" Larry asked.

Claire was still frozen in her seat. "No, but I'll ask if any pops up." She said.

"Great. Now, if you don't mind, please follow me please." He got up and led her to another room.

Claire was led into a room, with dimmed lights. Various monitors were set up on one end of the table and on the other end; there was a lie detector and a comfortable chair. On the other side of the table, behind the monitors were four men.

"I know this setting seems a bit intimidating to you, but rest assured it's all for formality sake. I trust this wouldn't be an issue for you?" He asked, referring to the lie detector test she was about to take.

"No, I completely understand." She said. She has to admit that she was not used to being second guessed on her first day at a new job area but she was also well aware that she's never actually worked for anyone like the government.

"Before we set you up, I'll go through what we'll do. Our psychologists Dr. Henkley and Dr. Kuhn will come in any moment now and will set you up. Once they're done, they'll ask a series of questions, ranging from basic information to work experience. Apart from the psychologists, there will be two other witnesses to officiate the scenario, I shall be one of them and the other will be Dr. Lee. Once again, I'd just like to remind you that we do not hold grudges against you and it's not that we do not trust what you've told us so far, but this is all for formality sake and we just need to cross all the t's and dot all the i's." He said with a tone of voice that made him sound like he's done this talk everyday of his life.

Claire agreed and once she signed the documents to agree to the questioning, the two psychologists hooked her up into the machine.

Once she was hooked up, Larry picked up his phone. "Sorry Dr. Lee should have been here ages ago. Let me give him a call before we start."

Larry left the room and left Claire in the vulnerable stares of ever- judging eyes of the psychologists. Claire has had many friends who are psychologists but she never felt this uncomfortable with them. They spoke all of no words and continued to look at her with nit-picking glares.

"Hi." Claire said, to break the silence.

"Hello, Claire." Dr. Kuhn replied whilst Dr. Henkley stared on.

Claire gave a tight lipped smile and hoped Larry would return soon.

"Sorry about that. Dr. Lee suddenly couldn't make it to your sitting so instead, we've got Mr. Kennedy and his working partner, Mr. Allan Johnston with us today. Again, this does not affect anything because we are merely witnesses to say that you actually did sit for this questionnaire."

Claire nodded. This will be interesting.

Soon after, Leon walked in followed closely by Allan Johnston.

"Nice to see you again, Ms. Redfield." Leon said in a formal tone.

"Likewise, Mr. Kennedy."

"Hello, I'm Allan Johnston, I'm Leon's work partner." The other medium built, black hair man spoke up.

"Claire Redfield. Pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine, miss."

Leon sat closest to the psychologists to observe the needle point's movements. Claire wasn't sure if that was ethical, but she knew he would be entitled to that information considering he was her boss. Information she still hasn't quite managed to take in just yet.

"Please state your name, your age and your birth date please." Dr. Henkley began whilst Dr. Kuhn monitored the needle.

Claire did as she was told. She answered a series of similar questions, some of them job related, some of them just plain personal questions. Some of which she would much rather not answer but did it anyway to please them.

"Are you in a relationship or have a romantic interest in anyone at the moment?" Dr. Henkley read out the 32nd question. Leon straightened up and looked on intently.

Claire squinted. "I'm sorry; I don't see how this question is relevant to the job position."

"Ms. Redfield, if there ever was an emergency and we could not contact your family members, we should know if there is anyone else we would need to contact. It's again, all for formality and these answers we get are strictly confidential." Dr. Henkley mentioned, again like it was something he did every day of his life.

"Can't I just give you the addresses and numbers of my emergency contact instead?"

"I'll repeat the question again, are you in a relationship or have a romantic interest in anyone at the moment?"

"No."

Claire noticed Leon peering at the needle. Whatever the needle had registered had left him feeling uncomfortable. He glanced at Claire, eyes showing the slightest sign of vulnerability. Claire thought of a few things she would have done if she had not been strapped onto a chair with a room full of people scrutinizing her actions.

Leon checked his watch. "I've got to go." He told Allan; who was about to question him but decided to just nod in acknowledgement instead.

Soon after the questionnaire ended, Larry told Claire that she will hear from him very soon and gave her a promising speech about how he looks forward to seeing her again as he knows the results of the test shouldn't be an issue at all.

Claire left the building only to bump into Leon, outside the entrance of the building. He seemed to have just got himself a large coffee from the deli across the street.

"Hi."

"Ms. Redfield." He responded, eyes showing no emotion.

"Hey, are you alright? Do you—"

"I hope you make the team, Ms. Redfield." He abruptly cut her overly concerned question and walked back into the office building.

Claire felt her annoyance rise just a bit but realised that Leon must have his reasons to behave so.

Back at Leon's apartment, she gave her old company a call. She mentioned quite briefly the possibility of her moving down here for this job to her boss a few days ago and he took it quite professionally and told her the necessary steps she would need to go through to officiate it. He tried to counter offer her but she knew she was better off here.

A blocked number flashed onto the screen shortly after she made her call to her old job. She picked it up, reluctantly.

"This is Mr. Kennedy."

Claire paused.

"If I were you, I'd fly back to Chicago to finalise your resignation because your test results were good and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary on our end."

"Are you legally able to tell me this over the phone?" Claire asked, jokingly.

"Redfield, this is an official call. I'm telling you now as your boss that your test results are alright and that you will be receiving your letter sometime this week, in your mailing address in Chicago. Are there any questions?" He asked.

"No." She said, stunned by the formality of things.

"Good then. Congratulations on the job. If anything comes up and you need clarification for it, please do not hesitate on calling Larry. Welcome aboard." He said.

Claire said thanks and bade goodbye.

"Kennedy, Lene would like a word with us." Allan said, popping his head into Leon's office.

"Right behind you." He said, getting up from his chair and placing Claire's test results back into his filing cabinet. He had just placed the call and was still figuring out how to handle the situation. He can't be too informal with her yet, it's hard to be formal considering he's harbouring her in his apartment for the time being.

"Glad you're not too busy, Leon have a seat." Lene said. She shut the door behind him and started off immediately.

"Pleasure's all mine, Lene. What can I do for you today?" Leon asked as he took a seat next to Allan.

"It's about South Korea. It doesn't look too good, boys. We don't have live updates on the situation but some of the local arm forces to report to us at the end of the day. They have mentioned that there is one confirmed infected civilian. They have contained that person and put him under observation."

"I hope they are aware of the risks they are taking with containing the victim." Leon commented.

"I know where you are going with this Leon, but killing that person may be a big mistake if he does not have the same virus as the one you and the BSAA team encountered in the other cities. If this particular virus is susceptible to a cure, they can potentially cure this person." Lene said.

"So what are our roles in all this?" Allan asked.

"The armed forces have requested us to send them some of the vaccinations over. We know that administering this vaccination to an infected being have been unsuccessful in the past, but they think it's worth a shot. If they think so, I have no qualms in following up." Lene said.

"But, in the event that this vaccination does not work, and the virus spreads, I need you two to get in there and stop the spread. Leon you're one with the most experience when it comes to outbreaks so I would like you to get a re- evaluation on your fitness so that we could deploy you at any time, in the event that this outbreak gets any worse. Same goes to you, Allan. You haven't the experience in this, but you're the best trained we have and your skills will be invaluable out there. I too, need you to get your fitness re- evaluated." Lene said.

"I'd like your re- evaluation file on my desk as soon as you've done them. That way I could give South Korea the confidence they need. At least we have America's finest on hand if ever they need our help. I wouldn't put you both out there now with one infected being, but you'll never know in the future..." Lene continued.

"We understand, Lene." Allan said.

"I'll arrange for an appointment soon." Leon said.

"Leon, you know a lot more than I do at this. What is your honest opinion?" Lene asked.

"Don't bother administering the vaccine. If any of those doctors get close to him and god forbid if the victim bites him, we'd have two infected beings in Korea." Leon said.

"Leon you know I can't advice them otherwise. We need to be as co-operative as possible." Lene said. Leon knew exactly where this was going.

"Is it a political race now, Lene? It never occurred to me that we're actually playing politics right this moment when there's people dying out there." Leon said, with a bit of spite.

"The current condition is a little more complicated than that."

"Hey, you asked for an opinion and that's mine." Leon said before she could get any father into the defence.

"Allan?"

"Ma'am, like you I have not ventured into the realms of outbreaks so I don't think my point is valid in any instance." Allan said.

"Very well then, boys. Thanks for coming in. If there's anything else I'll notify you. For now, thanks and I will await the reports."

"Thanks Lene." Leon and Allan said almost in unison.

Back in Leon's office, Allan sat down across him as they both filled out re-evaluation forms.

"Re-evaluations. I haven't done one in a year." Allan said.

"I haven't done one in three. You're one to talk." He said.

"Leon, what's it like out there?" Allan asked, after a period of silence. Clearly, this has been on his mind for a while.

Leon looked at his partner, his best friend on the team. How could he possibly describe his nightmares to him?

He thought about the words to describe the outbreaks. Then he decided that maybe there wasn't any.

"Man... just hope that we won't get involved, okay?" Leon said.

Allan chuckled. He knew Leon. And he knew he wasn't going to get much from this topic past this point with a deadpan answer like that from him.

"So... this Blair chick, you guys have history, hey?" Allan prodded. Everyone knew about their involvement in Racoon City. It was no secret.

"Her name is Claire and we know each other from Racoon City." He said.

"She seems cool. How'd she do in her test?" Allan commented.

"She did well. Passed every question." Leon said, flipping the file to Allan.

Leon continued to fill in his form whilst Allan thumbed through the file curiously.

"I wonder why we need to do this re-evaluation thing. I mean, look at Miss Redfield, she knew basic combat fighting from her brother and yet managed to survive racoon city with minor cuts and bruises."

"Miss Redfield is the exception, not the norm. Also, she did not escape with just scrapes and a bad hair day, as you've lightly put it; rather, she came out of it with two fractured ribs, a fractured hip bone and severe mental and emotional distress that she will always carry with her. I can't even say she came home because it wasn't home anymore after Racoon City. She had to move miles away from New York because she couldn't handle the memories in that city." Allan gave him a quizzical look but didn't ask questions.

"With training, we still cannot avoid the physical injuries, yes we can minimize it but mentally, we would be prepared. And we wouldn't carry as much baggage coming out of it than an untrained person would. So, if I were you, I'd fill that re-evaluation form up and do any retraining you need to before putting yourself in that position." Leon finished.

"I don't know where this is coming from. I know I've never been in an outbreak before but that doesn't mean you could belittle and be condescending about it. I came out of our training program a good 4 points ahead of you in almost all the categories the last time we had a training test together. So why don't you give this 'I'm better than you' act a break hey, Leon?" Allan said, putting down Claire's file on the table.

"I'm sorry it came out that way." Leon apologised.

Allan finished the last of the questions on the form and turned to Leon, "Also, do you want to hear my honest opinion of Claire's results right here? They're rehearsed."

He picked up his paperwork and walked towards the door.

"Wait, wait. What makes you think so?" Leon asked, reopening Claire's file.

"See these spikes up here?" Allan asked, pointing to the paper.

"No, what spikes?" Leon squinted at the questions he was pointing at.

"Exactly. She didn't have a single spike anywhere on this chart. If either of us took a test right now, we would have at the very least, a small spike on questions that we don't commonly come across or are uncomfortable answering. It's natural. Here, in this test result, compare the heartbeat on the first question, "what is your name" and the 21st question, "If you had the power of any world leader, which would you be and what would you do." I'm sure she doesn't get asked that a lot, Leon."

Leon frowned at Claire's misconduct. He doesn't believe she's capable of doing it but he's done underestimating her. Took him a while to decide where he stood in this. He could either take it up with Allan and further investigate the issue or let it slide.

"Johnston, I think we're just overanalysing things. I reckon, we would find similar results in some of our applicant's files if we searched hard enough. They're probably just more composed and relaxed than others." Leon said.

Allan shrugged and passed the file back to Leon. Leon knew that was a sign of him washing his hands away from the issue and not going back to it because it just wasn't arguing over. Allan was like that. He doesn't like confrontations and he does a fair bit to avoid getting into one, especially if it's with someone he's going to work with for a while.


End file.
